


A special luncheon

by EveandJohnny



Category: Avenged Sevenfold, Halestorm
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 17:48:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10470609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveandJohnny/pseuds/EveandJohnny
Summary: Halestorm and Avenged Sevenfold bump into each other at lunch, and oh, there's also a young German novelist joining.





	

Being a rock star certainly has its perks, I assume. But there are also things where you’re not sure how to feel about. Having a restaurant shut down solely for you so you can eat in privacy for example. That might be restful but it’s also terribly lonely and uncomfortable. Thankfully, I’m not a rock star. I’m a writer who never had the intention of being on stage to sing.  As always, however, life happens when you make plans. Thus, despite never wanting to sing in public I ended up having lunch with Halestorm in a closed-up bistro so people wouldn’t stare at Lzzy and the guys. They’re good company, without a question, but I missed the subliminal buzzing that usually backs my lunches.  
Usually, too, Halestorm didn’t eat out when on tour -  way too much to do – but it was Josh’s birthday and this was his favourite place in Philadelphia.

  We were midway through our meal when it knocked at the glass entrance door. The bistro’s owner Eduardo scurried out from behind the counter muttering something annoyed under his breath which I assumed was something along the lines of “Can you not read? There’s a ‘we’re closed’-sign up.”

I didn’t see who requested for admission as I was looking in the opposite direction. Joe nearly dislocated his neck when he tried to look past the enormous flower ornaments which hid the booths. We exchanged curious glances when we heard Eduardo unlocking the door. He sounded not annoyed anymore but quite happy as he was talking to the new guests. His cheerful chattering was met with laughter from five different people. I couldn’t help but think that I’d heard at least one of them before.  
 

The mystery was finally solved when Eduardo led them to our table. No wonder they were allowed into the sacred place he offers to famous musicians: they were rock stars themselves. Their clothing had become a little more normal over the years; it wasn’t as eccentric and over-the-top as in the beginning of their career. Especially those grills had just been ridiculous, in my opinion, but I missed their piercings a little.

  
  Everyone got up to greet the newly arrived. Apparently, everybody knew everyone in the music business. Then Lzzy took my arm and introduced me to the band that turned out to be Avenged Sevenfold. When we had exchanged our courtesies, Eduardo dragged an additional table and chairs over so we could have a happy rock star gathering. While the different professions ended up talking to each other – Johnny and Josh, Zacky and Joe, Matt and Lzzy and Brooks and Arejay – I tried to make polite conversation with Brian. But he was just staring at me, a little puzzled, and I already wondered if I had accidently slipped into speaking German. Then whatever it was he’d been pondering seemed to be solved, I could basically see it clicking in his face.

He said for everybody to hear: “I know you.”

The whole table went silent, looking back and forth between him and me.

  
 “I didn’t expect you to remember me”, I retorted.

Johnny eyed me more carefully now, trying to make out something had missed.

Before anybody else could stare at me in confusion I said: “Back then I was a basically no-name intern at the regional TV and radio network. You were stopping by in Erfurt during your super-secret club tour in late 2017 and I had been assigned to do the reports for both radio and TV because I was the only one in the editorial meeting who knew you.”

  
 Johnny nodded, seeming to remember, but the other ones were still a little bit puzzled.

Lzzy punched my upper arm lightly and grinned widely when she said: “Why didn’t you tell us?”

I shrugged. “The topic never came up.”

To put the other ones’ memories in the right way, I pulled out my phone and scrolled all the way back to the pictures of 2017. Then I put it on the table. The photo had been taken by the journalist who had covered the story for the local newspaper. On either side of the band stood the camera operator and the audio technician, respectively, who had also been there to give me advice as this had been my first field trip during that internship.

“Forgive me if still don’t remember”, Brooks said, looking sheepishly.

I waved my hand. “No worries. You’ve taken countless pictures by now that it is impossible to remember everyone.”

Matt interjected “Now, how do you and Halestorm ended up sitting here together? You clearly didn’t just meet here, did you?”

Lzzy smiled. Before she could say anything, though, Zacky interrupted.

“I’m a bad dad, apparently. You’re my kids’ favourite author. I have to read you with them every evening when I’m home.”

Now it was my turn to smile. I knew I was quite popular, if my bank account was anything to go by with. But hearing someone’s story was always more thrilling than any billing.  
 “I’m happy to hear that, I really am. And that is, so to speak, the reason why I’m here. You see, my debut is currently turned into a movie. I wanted to get involved as much as possible which means that I also have my say at the soundtrack. First I wanted to include Halestorm’s _Rock Show_ in a concert scene.”

Lzzy touched my knee and took over speaking when I paused to look at her.  
 “When they got in contact with us we we’re terribly thrilled as we haven’t been featured in a movie soundtrack before. Instead of just giving permission to use the song, though, we wanted to read the script to see if we couldn’t come up with something original. We wanted this to be a unique experience.”

She turned to me so I continued.  
 “Right. We met in their studio where they were working on their album and talked. We talked a lot, coming up with ideas and discarded them again. In the end, Lzzy pressured me a little to sing a few lines. Ostensibly, I wasn’t so lousy because she insisted to record us both, and afterwards invited me to sing it with them on stage whenever I had some time to spare and could make it to a gig or two.”

I sipped at my tea while Lzzy spoke again.  
 “Today is such a day. We’re going to play at the TLA here tonight and she’ll be joining us for a couple of songs.”

  There was a moment of silence before Brian asked: “Can I hear you sing?”

I was baffled, quickly hiding my blushing face behind my cup of tea.

  “Yeah, we’d like to hear your voice” Zacky added.

Lzzy gave me an encouraging pat on the back which turned out a little stronger than probably intended. As a result, I spluttered tea all over my lap.

Ah, sorry! I didn’t want this to happen. I swear to God!” she said and gave me a couple of napkins.

“It’s okay”, I coughed. My throat felt raspy now, not the best conditions for an impromptu voice showcase. I inhaled deeply, then took cautiously another sip from my tea. Lzzy leaned away from me, just to be on the safe side. I took another deep breath and felt ready now. Well, at least as ready as an amateur can be when sprung on with a song request out of nowhere in front of a bunch professionals. Without looking at anybody I started to sing _Science Fiction Double Feature_ , my go-to song for such occasions.  
  After the last note trailed slowly into oblivion the whole table erupted in applause.

“That was great”, Matt said approvingly with an honest smile. My face reddened again and I took an enthusiastic swig from my cup, only to discover that it contained nothing but air. I must have spilled more tea than I thought. Help was on its way, though, when Eduardo bountifully sprinted to my side with a glass of water, giving me a fatherly and soft pat on the shoulder.  
Just now did I notice the glance debate that was going on between the A7x members, followed by a nod or two.

  “Do you have time tomorrow night? We’d like to invite you on our stage, maybe taking over the female-sung parts in _A Little Piece of Heaven_? What do you say?” Brian asked.

I could only manage to goggle.

“We’re in Philly, too, but if you don’t want to leave Halestorm or have other duties that is absolutely fine”, he added.

Scratching my neck, I turned to Lzzy. “I would definitely want to go but we’re going to be in New York tomorrow. I don’t want to disappoint the fans.”

Lzzy shook her head, smiling. “You’re not disappointing anyone. Nobody knows that you’re supposed to be there. You’re always the surprise guest, remember?”

I looked at her for another second, then nodded finally. “Okay, it would be a true pleasure to sing with you guys.”

“Perfect”, Brian exclaimed and Matt extended a hand across the table.

“Very good, why don’t you just meet us at our tour bus at around ten so we have enough time to practice before we’re up for the soundcheck.”

  While he scribbled down the address on a napkin, Joe interjected: “Speaking of which: it was grand meeting you here but we have to get going. Our roadies are waiting for us.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have now fully jumped on the bandwagon of band fanfiction and thrown all my reservations regarding writing about real people away. I imagine them as fictional though, which makes it less awkward. This is also a good example of a Mary Sue character, but hey, I've written this story purely for fun and I'm just so glad that I got to writing at all. Felt like the connection between my brain and my hand had been dried out since the last time I posted.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and maybe slipped into the role of the nameless novelist. Comments and kudos much appreciated.


End file.
